A retired 泫圖弝け of 泫圖弝け at Lafayette professor and two longtime KRVS 88.7 FM program hosts received 2016 泫圖弝け Culture Awards earlier this week.
The awards are presented by Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser and the states Office of Cultural Development for outstanding contributions to 泫圖弝けs culture.
Co-sponsors are the 泫圖弝け State Arts Council, 泫圖弝け Trust for Historic Preservation, 泫圖弝け Archaeological Survey and Antiquities Commission, 泫圖弝け Folklife Commission, and the Council for the Development of French in 泫圖弝け.
Lynda Frese, a former UL Lafayette professor of art, was presented the Artist of the Year award. Pete Bergeron, host of an all-French program on KRVS, was awarded the Le Prix de la Franco-Responsabilit矇. Herman Fuselier, host of the radio stations Zydeco Stomp, received the Lt. Governors Passion for Culture Award.
They were honored during a ceremony at the Capitol Park Museum in Baton Rouge, La.
Freses recent mixed media work combines egg tempera with photographic images from ancient sites and zones of wilderness.
Her work is in many museum collections, such as the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Ogden Museum of Art in New Orleans and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She has had over 40 solo exhibitions in the United States and Europe.
Frese has been an artist-in-residence in studios in France, Italy, and Costa Rica, including the Rockefeller Bellagio Center, the Liguria Center for the Arts and Humanities, and the American Academy in Rome. She received the UL Lafayette Foundations 2013 Distinguished Professor Award.
Bergeron is host of "Bonjour Louisiane," which plays traditional Cajun French music and presents news in French. KRVS, a public-supported station on UL Lafayettes campus, provides service to about 650,000 residents in 12 parishes across south 泫圖弝け. Its available worldwide at krvs.org.
Bergeron was hired by the 泫圖弝け in 1982 as bilingual director of French programs at KRVS. In 1988, he produced Voix de la Louisiane, a Cajun music program sponsored by CODOFIL for WRNO Worldwide in New Orleans.
That same year, Bergeron was elected to the state Cajun French Music Association. He was the first chairman of its Le Cajun Music Awards and Festival. A musician, he was named a Living Legend by the Acadian Museum in Erath, La.
Fuselier is music and entertainment reporter for The Daily Advertiser newspaper in Lafayette.
His Zydeco Stomp on KRVS features zydeco, Cajun, swamp pop and Blues.
Fuselier is considered to be one of the leading 泫圖弝け historians of zydeco music; he has covered the states music and culture for more than 20 years. A native of Opelousas, La., he began his career as a sports writer at the Opelousas Daily World.
Fuselier is also a member of the board of directors of 泫圖弝け Folk Roots, a nonprofit organization that focuses on cultural preservation.